Uptown Funk Mark Ronson

Its time to explore chromaticism, minor keys, and modes with “Uptown Funk”. We will take a look at some of the foundational pieces of “Uptown Funk” that illustrate these musical concepts exceptionally well and explore how to infuse your own creative work with some of this same music power.

“Uptown Funk” was recorded by British record producer Mark Ronson and American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars, for Ronson’s fourth studio album, Uptown Special in 2015. The song went through many different incarnations, and was worked on for months. Ronson and Mars recorded it at multiple different locations worldwide, ranging from recording studios to dressing rooms. The song features heavy inspiration from the Minneapolis sound of 1980s-era funk music, having a spirit akin to works by Prince as well as Morris Day and The Time. Copyright controversies arose after the song’s release, with multiple lawsuits and amendments to its songwriting credits.

“Uptown Funk” was wildly successful, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all-time and breaking chart and streaming records. The song spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, seven weeks at #1 one on the UK Singles Chart, and topped the charts in many countries. It won multiple Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year. The song’s music video stars Ronson, Mars, and Mars’ backing band the Hooligans dancing in a city street, and accumulated 2 billion views on video sharing website YouTube as of November 2016, making it the fourth most viewed YouTube video of all time.